


if you had to pick a dude

by syazzypanda



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Am I reaching?? Probably, As if I understand this show's messy timeline, Boys being boys and supporting each other, Gen, I'm guessing Diego was on the team before Monty died??, I'm rewatching S3 trying to see if there was any hint of Chalex, M/M, Set in S3 when Charlie was still hanging out with Monty, Well guess this is becoming its own series, and if I can't find any I will Create It, takes place through S4 and probably beyond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24774853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syazzypanda/pseuds/syazzypanda
Summary: Maybe Charlie has a crush. And maybe Diego has suspicions. Who knows?
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall, The Football team - Relationship
Comments: 45
Kudos: 218





	1. Diego Has Suspicions

**Author's Note:**

> Just trying to write different characters to see where I can go with it :)
> 
> All I want is a S4 AU where instead of the weird crusade to clear Monty’s name the whole football team spend the season getting into wacky shenanigans trying to get Charlie and Alex together. 
> 
> Diego really went from ‘excuse me miss being gay isn’t wrong #get woke’ to psychologically torturing Clay and like… the tonal whiplash really threw me off guard y’all. 
> 
> I really had fun writing this though, and hope you enjoy reading it as well.

“Yo, Charlie,” Diego thumped a fist against the headrest of the driver’s seat, “You okay if we light up in here?”

Charlie glanced over his shoulder at his friend, eyeing him quizzically, “I didn’t know you smoked.”

“Not cigarettes man,” Diego laughed, an arm slung back behind his head. The evening sun spilled in through the back windows, highlighting his handsome features as he lounged in the backseat. Charlie thought he looked like he belonged in a photoshoot. “I don’t touch those cancer sticks.”

“We go all _natural_ ,” Luke added from the passenger seat, feigning an accent on the last word. The three were in Charlie’s car, parked outside of school. Most of the students had cleared the area for the day which left them in relative privacy in the vehicle.

Charlie’s eyes widened in understanding, “Oh! Weed.” He seemed to mull it over for a bit, “Maybe not? The smell tends to stick, and my dad sometimes uses this car. We can smoke up in my room later if you can wait that long.”

“Sure man.” Diego leaned forwards, this time reaching around the headrest to ruffle Charlie’s hair. “We can get high and check out that shirtless poster of Tyler Hoechlin you have on your wall.”

Luke roared with laughter as Charlie’s face went red, “He’s a good actor!” He didn’t tell them about the evenings he had spent watching Teen Wolf with his mother when she got sick. That was a story that he would keep to himself. For now.

Luke’s laughter had tapered off, “No shame, man. Tyler Hoechlin’s hot. Top ten in my ‘if I had to pick a dude’ category.”

“Dude, if you have a top ten it’s not a hypothetical ‘if I was gay’ category anymore,” Diego commented, throwing himself back into the seat as Luke made a swipe at him--more playful than anything. “But if I had to pick a dude it would be Tyler Posey though.”

“He’s very attractive too,” Charlie agreed.

“Yeah, but come on this is too safe if we’re just gonna talk about celebrities.” Diego kicked the back of Luke’s seat, “Luke, how about if you had to pick a dude we know?”

“From Liberty? Or any dude we know?”

“Any dude in town.”

Luke pretended to stroke his chin in thought, “I don’t know man, can’t really think of anyone in Liberty, maybe like... Deputy Standall?

Diego let out a whoop of laughter, “Oh man, you know if that relationship works out you’re gonna be Alex Standall’s step dad right?”

Now, Diego had been looking towards the passenger seat. Maybe it was the reflexes honed from practice, maybe he was observant, but from the corner of his eye he saw the slight, very, very slight, change in Charlie’s posture. He seemed to straighten in the seat, blue eyes wide, “I-I didn’t know Alex’s dad was a cop.”

Diego snorted, now shifting his gaze towards Charlie. There was something… intriguing about his reaction, although Diego can’t put a finger on it. Not yet. “Yeah, imagine what sort of shit he can get away with having a dad in law enforcement. The other cops in town probably won’t touch him.”

Luke shrugged, “Don’t think it’s all that great though.” Despite the fact that it was the three of them in the car, he lowered his voice, “You know my guy won’t even sell him roids cause of his dad?”

“Damn,” Diego replied. “That’s tough.” He kicked the back of Luke’s seat again, “Hey, if the Deputy’s too old you can go for Alex. If you're into skinny white dudes.”

It was because he was looking at Charlie, and partly because the younger boy seemed to carry his heart out on his sleeve, that this time he saw the quick flicker of emotions across Charlie’s face. He cleared his throat, trying--and failing--to seem nonchalant, “Monty told me that he thinks he’s gay.”

“Monty says that about everyone,” Diego rolled his eyes. “I love the dude but he needs to get creative with insulting people. Not that being gay is an insult or anything.”

“It’s the homophobia bro, we gotta be like, shit, how does Dempsey say it,” Luke schooled his expression, mimicking their captain’s tone, “Be better. And shit.”

Charlie nodded, though something in his eyes seemed somewhat distracted, “Yeah, be better.”

Diego felt a buzz in his pocket and retrieved his phone, eyes scanning quickly over the screen, “Looks like Beecher’s stuck in his meeting for another half an hour, he says he’ll meet us at Charlie’s place.” He thumped the back of Charlie's seat, "Come on, I'm starving."

* * *

Diego wasn’t snooping.

It’s not like he was going out of his way to find out, no, it was just that the football team spent a lot of time together. And they look out for each other.

So he might have paid a _little_ bit more attention the next time they passed Alex Standall in the hallway and noticed the way Charlie followed him with his eyes for just a _little_ bit longer than usual.

Or how Charlie would seem to zone out of their locker room banter on the occasions when Alex showed up to talk to Zach, almost looking as if he wanted to join in on whatever hushed conversation they were having but knowing that there wasn’t space for him there. Not between Zach and Alex, whatever the hell it was those two had going on.

No, Diego wasn’t snooping. But he had a pretty good idea of what was going on in that beautiful, kind head of Charlie’s. Not that it was his place to say anything.

But well, it definitely was intriguing.


	2. Diego is Pretty Sure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, guess this is going to be a thing now. I love the idea of the football team trying to collectively wingmen Charlie. This is just going to be a series of interconnected, and most probably chronological, one-shots. Hope you enjoy!

“Dude,” Diego stared at the pages in front of him, eyebrows knitted together in a confused frown, “Did you write Percy Jackson fanfiction for Ms Lee’s assignment?”

“Yeah, and?” Luke shrugged, arms crossed defiantly as he met Diego’s incredulous gaze, “They’re good books.”

Charlie looked up from his biology report and nodded in agreement, “They are.” He had a pen tucked behind his ear even as he used another one to write. He had explained that it was so that he’ll always have a pen nearby in case the one he was using ran out of ink. Diego thought it somehow made him look like an extremely dedicated (or confused) bunny. It was adorable. 

“Yo, man.” Diego was quick. He snatched the paper off the table, eliciting an indignant cry from Luke, “I think it’s cool--” Luke swiped at him to retrieve his assignment, which Diego responded to by leaning backwards so that he was balancing on the two back legs of the chair, just out of Luke's reach, while his eyes scanned the page, “--that you wrote a Percy and Annabeth fanfic. Charlie, check this out.”

He dodged Luke’s hand and sent the page sliding towards Charlie who pulled it closer to read through it. Luke had given up by now, recrossing his hands with a defensive frown, “You guys are monsters.” He still kept his gaze on Charlie though, as if trying to gauge his reaction as he read.

In true St George fashion, the boy looked up with a grin when he finished, “This is really good. I think you captured their personalities perfectly.”

“Really?” Luke brightened, uncrossing his arms, “What do you like about it? I just re-read the original series so it’s still really fresh in my head.”

Charlie returned the paper to Luke, tapping the back of his pen onto the table, “So you wrote about Percy writing Annabeth a poem, which is really sweet. And the poem itself is pretty well done.” Charlie’s excitement was infectious, and even Diego dropped the chair back down on all fours to listen, “I like how you incorporated their dyslexia into the story too because...” he trailed off, as if something had stolen the words straight from his throat. 

Charlie never finished the sentence and when Diego looked up he could see, at least what he suspected to be, why: Alex Standall had just walked into the library. He stood at the entrance, scanning the room for a seat. Diego wondered if he had just imagined the slight deflation in Charlie’s posture when Alex skimmed right past the three of them and the single seat beside Charlie in favour of dumping his books on an empty table. 

Interesting. 

“We should ask Standall to sit with us.” Diego heard himself say the words before he even fully processed the thought. This time he knew he didn’t imagine Charlie’s reaction as he whipped his head back to face him, eyes wide. Diego decided to press his luck, “Charlie, you know him right?”

“Uh, yeah. Sort of.” The pen in his hand was now tapping even faster against the table, “I’m not sure he knows me. We haven’t, uh, interacted. One on one. Or anything.”

“First of all man, everyone knows who you are. Secondly, if he doesn’t then this is the perfect time--”

“We have class in ten minutes, and I wanna know what Charlie thinks about the story before I submit it.” Luke interjected. He was looking curiously at Diego who wrestled down the urge to kick him under the table. He was just about to get to his feet when another person, this one who Diego recognised as Tyler Down, entered the library and made a beeline straight for Alex. The two were already in a hushed conversation even before Tyler had pulled a chair out for himself, and Diego knew that he had lost his chance. 

Well, this time at least.

Judging by the red that had bloomed in Charlie’s cheeks, Diego figured that there would be ample opportunity to, just maybe, test his theory. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's anything you want to see or any situations you want to request, just drop a comment :)


	3. Diego Runs His Mouth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S4:E1 - Winter Break. Diego should really think before he speaks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really tough to write mainly because... well I'm still not a fan of the weird psychological torture plot line, but I understand that they were also hurting. It's also really late because of that. 
> 
> Contains quite a bit of strong language but nothing beyond the usual 13rw. I promise future ones will be more lighthearted, just needed to get through this. 
> 
> I hope you can enjoy this! <3

All things considering, Diego got off pretty easy. Probably because dumb ass Jensen had instigated the fight.

Principal Bolan had mentioned that it had taken two cops to drag him off the other boy. Between the rage and the red that had taken over his vision, fucking Bryce Walker could have showed up and yank him back and he wouldn’t have noticed, or care for that matter.

Bolan was firm, but let him out with a warning and a month’s worth of detention. Coach Kerba, on the other hand, had ripped into him for almost half an hour--his admonishments going from disappointment, anger, and finally threatening to bench Diego for the entire season if he pulled another stunt like that again. By the end of it Diego’s rage had mellowed, leaving him tired, humiliated, and having to come face to face with the soul crushing grief that had been his constant companion since news broke of Monty’s death. 

He had expected to see Luke waiting for him in the locker room, and he was. Who he wasn’t expecting was Charlie St. George, bright eyed and soft edged, sitting beside Luke. 

Charlie was on his feet in an instant, “How did it-”

“Luke,” Diego interjected sharply, making a point to look directly past Charlie. “Let’s go.”

Luke remained seated, his bag on his lap. He was looking up at Charlie, and later would say that the stricken look on Charlie’s face had rooted him to the spot. 

Charlie was nothing if not persistent, imploring even, “Diego, please talk to me. I’m sorry if you’re angry at me but-”

“Oh, you’re _sorry_?” Diego growled, fists spasming by his side. He pinned Charlie with a look that he had only ever reserved for the field, eyes dark and eyebrows furrowed; it had made more than a few opposing players cover in fear before. But Charlie knew that ploy, knew that even with his volcanic rage and quick fists that Diego wouldn’t hurt him. 

And that somehow made Diego even angrier, “Our friend is _dead_ and it’s like you don’t even give a shit.”

A man with less courage (or maybe a smarter one, if there was a difference?), might have backed down, but Charlie stood his ground, “He was good to me, but he was also capable of horrible things. Diego, he _hurt_ people,” Charlie took a breath, holding Diego’s gaze, “I’m not trying to tell you how to grieve, but you’re not doing any favours trying to erase that.”

The red broached his vision again, and all that hurt and rage and _fuck you St. George_ and _fuck Jensen_ and _fuck this shit_ had to go _somewhere_ , so his arm flexed and his fist slammed into a locker so hard that Luke flinched at the impact. It looked as if Charlie almost did too, but he didn’t avert his gaze. “He didn’t deserve to die, damn it!”

“Diego, hurting yourself isn’t going to help. Let me see your hand,” he offered his own hand out, and it was just the goddamn kindness in the gesture, so open and forgiving and so entirely Charlie, that made Diego explode again.

“What do you know about helping?” The words were out before they registered in his brain, and some part of him knew that it wasn’t a good sign. “Monty’s dead and you suddenly ditch us to hang out with Clay fucking Jensen. Suddenly you’re off being his buddy as if you don’t realise he’s the only person who would benefit from somebody else taking the fall.”

“That’s not it-” Charlie started, but was immediately cut off once again.

“Then what the fuck is it Charlie?” It was hard to reel in the explosion once it started.

“Diego, you should stop,” Luke interjected, getting to his feet. He hovered by Charlie’s side as if ready to step between them if things escalate. Somehow that made things worse.

“What could you possibly get from hanging out with Jensen?” He gesticulated wildly, angrily, “Do you jack off to his shitty sad boy poetry?”

Luke’s voice was sharper now, “Dude, that’s not cool.”

All Diego wanted was to wipe that almost overbearing look of pity on Charlie’s face because it was too hard to maintain his anger at someone who wasn’t fighting back. Clay Jensen had come rearing up to bring the fight to him. Charlie seemed like he was just letting him vent. So he said what he said next, and he realised that he had crossed a line even as the words came out on the other side of it: “Or are you just playing along cause you’re so goddamn desperate to get into Standall’s pants?”

“ _Diego,_ ” Luke snapped, “That’s _enough_.”

Charlie looked as if all the air had been sucked out of his chest. The colour had drained from his face, and despite everything, Diego wished he could have taken the words back. Charlie looked as if Diego had punched him, and maybe he would have preferred that, maybe he had been expecting it. Maybe he had. 

Luke hesitantly touched Charlie’s shoulder, as if worried that the younger boy would flinch away. He levelled his gaze towards Diego, “That was low, dude.”

Charlie inhaled sharply. He glanced at Luke, at the arm on his shoulder, as if it was grounding him. Then he looked back towards Diego, voice soft, “Do you feel better now?”

“Charlie, I… didn’t mean…” 

“Yes, you did,” Charlie replied, simply. “But do you feel better?”

Diego’s hands had dropped to his sides. It was like the fight had left them as suddenly as it had arrived, “... No.”

Charlie nodded, looking all the while as if he had been expecting the answer. “You’re hurting, and you’re angry, but taking it out on me or anyone else isn’t going to make it hurt less. You can be angry at me, but I would appreciate it if you don’t drag Alex into it. Whatever it is you think of him or my intentions.”

Diego almost felt woozy, the adrenaline seeping away, “I’m sorry.” He ran a hand down his face as if trying to steady himself, “Shouldn’t have said that.”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have,” Charlie replied, hands now in his pockets. He seemed to have regained his composure, expression calm, “But I get why you would think that.”

Diego opened his mouth and shut it again, not knowing what to say. It was Luke who ended up filling the silence, squeezing Charlie’s shoulder, “This is probably not the best time, but dude, you make it pretty obvious.”

“Charlie,” Diego shook his head, “I’m really sorry, man.”

“I know you are,” Charlie replied kindly. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about Monty. Even if you don’t believe me.”

“I do,” Diego sighed, “It’s just been… a lot to handle, you know?”

“Yeah, it has.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate that so many of you took the time to read this little pet project :) Thanks so much. Would love to know what you think about this particular chapter namely because I'm a bit nervous about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! 
> 
> I'll go back to my scheduled Chalex writing hell soon.


End file.
